Guillermo del Toro's Final Few Parting Words on 'The Hobbit'!

As we all already know, it was announced last week that famed filmmaker Guillermo del Toro would no longer be directing The Hobbit movies, and would leave the epic adaptation in the hands of a new (yet to be announced) director. Not much has really been revealed regarding the complete situation, why del Toro left, who they're looking at to direct instead, and the status of the project moving forward (with MGM still tied up), but we do now have another brand new update from del Toro courtesy of TheOneRing.net. GdT announced his departure on that fan site and has posted one final update today with his parting thoughts.

So- while the cited delays, contractual complexities or obstacles, cannot be attributed to a single event or entity - you will simply have to believe that they were of sufficient complexity and severity to lead to the current situation. Trust me on this, Pasi- leaving NZ and the Hobbit crew is extremely painful.

As stated before- a wealth of designs, animatics, boards and sculptures is left behind representing accurately my ideas for Mirkwood, Spiders, Wargs, Stone Trolls, etc, etc and everyone (PJ, FW, PB and myself) has the same goal in mind: to try and ensure the best possible transition of the movie to a new director.

I believe these films will happen. Preproduction continues as we speak. The writing team of PJ,FW,PB and myself will keep moving the screenplays forward.

Perhaps even sooner than we may anticipate we will all look at the finished film and then- I will tear up whenever I recognize a set or a creature or a quirk created under my supervision. Everyone on these boards will get two movies. Me? I will be watching filmic family albums. Photos of my children from far away.

I hope you will understand how delicate the subject is for me…

Beyond that- I am simply no longer an official voice for these projects. Be good, be well- and I invite you all to follow me into the next phase of my filmmaking journey.

As sad as it is to hear Guillermo talk about all of this, one of the many reasons I love him so much is that he actually takes his time and goes to these lengths to communicate directly with the fans. That doesn't happen often in Hollywood these days, especially with a director as high profile as Guillermo del Toro. Anyway, I should also mention that I participated in a brief video discussion on AMC last week talking about this news and GdT's departure from The Hobbit and what it all means. Beyond all that, we're not sure what to expect next. We'll keep you updated as best we can and hopefully they find a replacement director soon. Good luck!

Reader Feedback - 6 Comments

1

PJ should do it.... (AND HURRY UP) Ian & Christopher Lee will not be around forever!!

Neva Evah on Jun 7, 2010

2

I love and respect this guy so much.

radbot on Jun 7, 2010

3

Jackson should have been directing these movies from the start. The LOTR films are what they are because of his brilliance. As much as I wanted a Hobbit movie, I rather have none at all if the original team from LOTR was not in place for the prequel. MGM needs to get itself in order first, then allow Jackson and his team to gives us another masterpiece and due time. Nobody wants to see these films rushed for the sake of staying on schedule.